Capua Cathedral ( it, Basilica cattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta in Coelo; Duomo di Capua) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

in the city of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, dedicated to the

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by G ...

. It is the episcopal seat of the

Archbishops of Capua In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. It was given the status of a

basilica minor In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular b ...

in 1827.

History

The construction of the first church on the site is traditionally attributed to Landulfo, Bishop of Capua, in 856, using

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...

columns from the local amphitheatre or other churches, but it was rebuilt in the 10th century and again, under Archbishop Erveo, towards the end of the 11th century, with subsequent major works. The bell-tower has Lombard and Norman influences. The entire church was destroyed by bombardment on 9 September 1943. It was rebuilt between 1949 and 1957. The Diocesan Museum was installed in a chapel here in 1992.

Works of art

Among the paintings in the church are works by

Domenico Vaccaro Domenico Antonio Vaccaro (June 3, 1678 – June 13, 1745) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect. He created many important sculptural and architectural projects in Naples. His later works are executed in an individualistic Rococo s ...

. Some of the frescoes recall past works including the frescoes in the presbytery depicting Eucharistic scenes (1961). The main altarpiece is of the ''Assumption of the Virgin'' by

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...

. In the nave are the columns by Archbishop Erveo (1073-1088) and a font from archbishop

Cesare Costa Cesare, the Italian version of the given name Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–1912), ...

(1572-1602). The crypt has a painting depicting a ''Dead Christ'' by

Matteo Bottiglieri Matteo Bottiglieri (1684–1757) was an Italian sculptor and painter from Naples. One of his first works is a marble "Dead Christ" (1724), in the crypt of the Capua Cathedral, perhaps executed after drawings by Francesco Solimena. In 1733 he execu ...

, an ''Addolorata'' by the school of

Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the c ...

, and a Roman sarcophagus.Capua on Line
history of the cathedral.

References

{{Coord, 41.1091, 14.2110, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Campania Churches in the province of Caserta Capua Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Basilica churches in Campania Cathedrals in Campania